There are a host of baseball greats on the 10-person ballot that will receive consideration from the Golden Days Era Committee which was recently announced by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for election into the Class of 2022. This committee will meet on Dec. 5 at the baseball Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla.
Former Phillies standout Dick Allen is on the ballot. Allen joins Ken Boyer, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Roger Maris, Minnie Miñoso, Danny Murtaugh, Tony Olivia, Billy Pierce and Maury Wills.
Any candidate who receives votes on 75 percent of the ballots cast by the committee will earn election to the Baseball Hall of Fame and will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 24, 2022, along with any electees who emerge from the 2022 Baseball Writers’ Association of America, to be announced on Jan. 25, 2022.
Allen, who passed away on Dec. 7, 2020 played nine seasons (1963-77) in the majors with the Phillies. In 1964, he won National League Rookie of the Year. During his years with the Phillies, he hot .290 with 204 doubles, 204 home runs, 655 RBI, a .371 on-base percentage and a .530 slugging percentage 9.902 OPS in 1,070 games.
Allen’s slugging percentage is second best-best in Phillies history, behind only Hall of Famer Chuck Klein (.553), and he ranks 10th in home runs. Allen led the league in OPS four times in his career, including twice with the Phillies in 1966 (1.027) and 1967 (.970).
Allen was a trailblazer. He was one of the early African Americans to play for the Phillies during the Civil Rights Movement.
Allen was one of the greatest sluggers of his era. He had the fifth most home runs (319) among all major league players over an 11-year span (1964-74) behind Hall of Famers: Hank Aaron (391), Harmon Killebrew (336), Willie Stargell (335) and Willie McCovey (327). Moreover, his combined .940 OPS was second best, narrowly trailing Aaron (941). Finally, over those 11 years, his cumulative WAR of 58.3 was tied for sixth-highest among all players, including 37 Hall of Famers to play during that time.
Allen twice led the American League in home runs, including the 1972 season when he was named Most Valuable Player after hitting .308 with 37 home runs, 113 RBI, 99 walks, a 420 on-base percentage and a 1.023 OPS. His only postseason appearance came in 1976 when he made three starts for the Phillies in the National League Championship Series.
Allen, a seven-time all-star (1965-67; 1970; 1972-74), played nearly every position on the field during his career, but was widely known as a first and third baseman. He played with the Phillies (1963-69; 1975-76), the St. Louis Cardinals (1970), Chicago White Sox (1972-74) and Oakland A’s (1977).
Allen is one of the greatest players in Phillies. He joins Hall of Famers Richie Ashburn (1), Jim Bunning (14), Mike Schmidt (20), Steve Carlton (32), Roy Halladay (34) and Robin Roberts (36) as the only Phillies in team history to have their numbers retired. Allen’s No. 15 was retired in September 2020.
In 1994, Allen was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame. In 2018, he was inducted into the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum “Hall of Game.”
The results of the Golden Days Era Committee vote will be announced live on MLB Network’s “MLB Tonight” at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 5.
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